I’ve been missing from my blog for a long time, but I think I’m doing better now. I had a long winter. Beside the depression that I fight constantly which only worsens in winter and is a sometimes debilitating problem, I managed to kill three hard drives in a little over 45 days and then finally, my motherboard on my laptop died. This resulted in a total loss locally of everything I’d worked so hard to write/design/volunteer for/create/what-have-you. And where I’d backed things up to ended up not backing up the way I thought they would.

Long story, but none of that helped.

Two nights ago though, I was happily ensconced in bed at 11pm and thanks to REELZ TV, watched the wedding of William and Kate. I thought I wouldn’t care much. I was wrong. It was lovely. And fascinating. And it made me want to be there. Kate’s dress was elegant (reminiscent of Grace Kelly’s,) William’s military dress is just a pinch shy of being as fabulous as our USMC dress blues (which are my favorite) and I wish them the best.

But please, though I understand the significance, I can certainly do without all of the hype. It’s been relentless. So I’m glad it’s over.

One thing that struck me though while watching was the variety of hats on the head of almost every female in attendance.  Including the little girls.

I’m old enough that when I was little, my mother’s and her mother’s generations still wore hats. It made me feel very grown up as a child and still makes me feel grown up as an adult. I hadn’t realized how much of an impression hats made when I was a child though until last night when it occurred to me, I chose to wear one when I was married. It had a wide brim trimmed in Italian lace and covered in ivory silk that flowed down my back onto the floor creating a train. It was beautiful and I still unpack it occasionally to put it on. It makes me feel so much different and takes me to another time.

Hats are more than a simple headdress designed to keep our hair dry. In the winter, they keep us warm. In the summer, they can reveal a true sense of flair. They say a lot about our own personalities as much as they do about the outfit they’re accessorizing. I sometimes wonder, if newspapers were the first commercially printed things, magazines were behind only because the fashion plates were time consuming and often difficult to reproduce.

I do remember too when I was very small, looking through fashion magazines that showed hats. Now, I don’t see a hat unless it’s in a catalog and it’s designed for a lumberjack or someone wearing a pea coat. But I digress…

Getting back to the wedding, the Queen had a lovely little top hat on. Much nicer than her normal pillbox design. Perhaps  in her old age, she’s becoming more playful while retaining her respectability. Camilla had a large, floppy brimmed thing on that didn’t quite hide as much of her as it could have. There were a couple of very fun hats, one a curly-cue thing perched at the front of Princess Beatrice’s head and the other, blue with a cluster of huge purple flowers on Princess Eugenie.

Then there was Victoria Beckham who sported a pillbox, more in line with something the queen might wear, but at a much jauntier angle than the queen would ever consider (at least in public, but then again, she was young once too!) And on the right, we have Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne, wearing a rather lethal looking number that obviously wasn’t stable.

You had the bride’s mother, Carole Middleton, in a very nice, simple hat that, though you can’t see it here, has a small cap inside so it actually sits on the top of her head. Very smart!

Another smart style is Sophie, Countess of Wessex who wore a nicely seated hat that used a headband to great effect.

Some, I loved, others…not so much as evidenced here…

Claudia Bradby. You tell me.

And some were just plain silly. But they were in keeping with the moment and in this case, it’s a celebratory historical moment that I hope doesn’t end. Then again, they’ve had almost nine years to prepare for this so perhaps the happily ever after in Britain is on an upswing.

What about you? Do you like hats? Loathe them? Feign indifference when you’d really love to have a closet full? If you’d been invited, whether you loved them or not, you’d have been expected to wear a hat so in that case, what would you have chosen?

PS: I fought for several hours to place the pictures which never worked the way I wanted and realized I’d never proofed this so I’ve cleaned up all the spelling/grammar/half thought sentences I’d written. I’ll get back in the swing of blogging. I really will ;o)

And thank you, from the bottom of my heart for giving me the heart-pounding magic that was the 1984 baseball season. You will be missed.

Sparky Anderson, Feb 22, 1934 to Nov 4, 2010

Well, it’s that time of year again. I’m gearing up for NaNo and hopefully this year, I’ll manage to finish though I have to admit, I got a great start on the second in a series last year, though I’d not planned a series to start with. But the character kept talking so he’s the one I picked and it worked well. My biggest problem is still turning off that internal editor though. I think if I could do that, I’d have no problem finishing.

For the handful of you who know me, you know I love cars. I started driving when I was 7 years old in a midget racer.

A real one. Not a toy.

On a real track. Man, it was fast!

And I was hooked.

Over the years, I’ve owned a lot of wonderful cars, from a Shelby (like Elenore in Gone in 60 Seconds) to a Hemi ‘Cuda, to a Corvette. At the moment, my DH has a ‘69 Chevelle in the back garage with a 750hp motor in it and I drive this:

I LOVE my little car! I don’t drive it in the winter so it’s only got 11,000 miles on it. In the past, I’ve been very fickle with my cars, changing them the way some change shoes. But this one I’m keeping. Of course, I’m still going to buy another ‘69 Nova SS, but that’s another story.

Now that I’ve gone through all of that, I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m getting to. I’m writing a paranormal series based in Regency England. It has romance, love and werewolves. Unfortunately, though I adore my characters, there isn’t much room to write about the cars I love in those stories. I’ve also finished one contemporary paranormal though about a woman, the ghost of her sister and the man said ghost tries to hook sis up with. My Hero in that story is the head of a major motion picture studio. He would drive a CAR in capital letters and so I had a long talk with him on what he wanted and after a few weeks of typing *** for the model, we arrived at this:

I loved it, so did he and it seemed like the perfect car for his personality. I wouldn’t mind having one myself.

Because I love cars, I always pay particular attention to the cars in not only my stories, but also the romance novels I read. I am surprised at how many I read that mention the characters “drove here,” or “got in the car,” and then there’s no mention of what they’re driving. I understand word limits, but even one sentence about the type of car can speak volumes about your characters.

Two wonderful encouragers of mine, Bonnie Edwards and Alexis Morgan have both used cars effectively to illustrate their character’s personalities.

In Possessing Morgan, Bonnie used a green Morgan (they make fabulous sportsters.) Her Hero, a hotshot playboy, owns the car and the Heroine (also named Morgan) is sent to repossess it. The play on title, character names and Hero’s personality works perfectly together.

In Dark Warrior Unleashed, Alexis’s Hero is a thousand year old Viking who belongs to a special group, Kyth, which gives him gifts he’d prefer not to have. To sooth his troubled soul, and because he feels out of place in the contemporary world, he drives a Packard. An older Packard. Long, low-slung and commanding, the car once again portrays the Hero’s personality perfectly.

I’ve often been accused of putting too little description or too much in my stories, preferring to let the dialogue take center stage over constantly describing the character’s expressions or movements whenever possible. But I do love my cars and they get the same loving physical description as my characters do.

This year for NaNo, I have a story I’ve putzed with for several months but haven’t been able to move forward with, that I’m going to write. And the Hero’s car will be important, though we haven’t quite decided on what it will be yet.

So, what about you? When you read a contemporary and the H/Hn are racing away from a crime scene or running for their lives, do you get a sense of them from the car they’re driving? When the Hero arrives to pick up the Heroine for a date, do you want to know what he’s driving? Does that kind of thing matter at all to you? Or is that something that’s a nice bonus, but you really don’t mind if the make/model/driving experience isn’t there?

I’m truly curious and would like to know so talk to me. Tell me what you think.

I went to my first conference this past weekend.

The Emerald City Writers Conference.

It was overall…a fabulous experience! I’m not sure what I expected entirely never having been to anything close to it before, but I’m so glad I went. I won’t go into great detail about how I decided to go (points at Alexis Morgan and Bonnie Edwards…) but it was the right thing for me to do.

Let me preface all of this by saying my flight from Detroit to Seattle with a layover in Atlanta was the flight from Hell. I did have a great ride to the hotel however and even though I arrived an hour before registration officially opened, there were volunteers manning the information table. What a treat to walk in and have someone to ask rather than floundering until 3pm. And the whole conference was organized that way. Everything ran smoothly, at least in front of the scenes. I can’t speak for any problems that might have incurred behind them, but if there were, they never let it show.

I wore a name tag. Well, it hung around my neck and was more the size of a placard (kidding!) but they were big enough to see and for someone who wears reading glasses, that was a nice surprise. What was most unusual about the name tags though is, if I saw someone else wearing one, they smiled at me. Me! A complete newbie. They smiled. They all smiled. I have never been to a conference like this. I’ve been to others, but never a writer’s conference. With past conferences, if you don’t you already know the person approaching you, they tend to look away, but not so here. It was just one more thing that made me feel less of an alien.

I attended great workshops, learned a lot, roomed with Bonnie Edwards and spent time with both her and Alexis Morgan and laughed until I cried, (and if you ever get a chance to spend time with them together, don’t drink anything while they’re talking, it will go everywhere!)

For brevity’s sake, here are pictures and comments rather than a twelve page post. Just know that if you have the chance to attend next year, do. It’s small enough to feel comfortable and yet, they have excellent workshops and things that are comparable to the national conference.

So, without further ado and in no particular order…

Alexis Morgan and Bonnie Edwards. Funny, irreverent, encouraging…I’d have never gone to the conference but for them. They’ve been online friends for years now. Meeting them in person was great!

Alexis, some unknown author and Bonnie.

Bonnie at the booksigning on Saturday. (I can’t remember the author’s name sitting next to her. If someone can clue me in, I’ll add that.)

Shelli Stevens. The first person I spoke with when I got there (other than the information people,) we’ve twittered off and on and she’s a sweet in person as she is on twitter.

Michelle Grajkowski and Katie MacAlister. Even Vampires Get the Blues was the first book I read by Katie and loved it.

Margaret Mallory, a fellow CHRW member, she learned today that Knight of Pleasure just won the Maggie!

Linda Hope Lee, a wonderful author, she sat in our group at Pitchfest and was a great help. She’s also a genuinely nice person and a delight to know.

Brenda Novak. I’ve chatted with her a few times online when I’ve donated to her yearly auction for diabetes research. We sat next to each other at Friday night’s dinner and she’s as accessible and gracious in person as she is online. She was also our Saturday speaker and a great encouragement. And by the way, if you haven’t participated in some way with her auction, do. She’s managed in just a few years to raise over $303,000 thanks to her dedication and the writing community.

Alexis Morgan and Michelle Grajkowski (Michelle is Alexis’s agent). Michelle was very easy to talk to and just a really nice person. I can see why Alexis loves working with her.

And look at that smile! Alexis did that through most of the conference. I think she must do that almost all the time. But you do see that teeny tiny glint of mischief there, don’t you?

Ellis Flynn and Amanda Forester. It was a pleasure meeting them both.

Alyssa Day, our opening speaker. Very funny lady, it was a treat to hear her speak. She had us all in stitches.

Lauren Dane. Another twitterer I’ve chatted with many times. She’s as much fun in person as she is there.

Meljean Brook. What a sweetheart! I have her new steampunk, Iron Duke and can’t wait to read it.

The incomparable Cherry Adair! She’s full of energy and wisdom and I’m so glad I took her workshop. Now all I have to do is complete her “Finish the Damn Book” challenge…

All of these women were easy to talk to, treated me as if they’d known me forever and were more than happy to answer any question I had. There were so many others too that I met but didn’t have my camera to take a picture of. I spent a few hours with a group of authors including Laurie London. I happened to “meet” her on DJ’s Blog and didn’t put two and two together right away, but when I did…and she’s as much fun and delightful in person as she is on DJ’s blog. They all made me feel like I’d known them forever. I entered several of the many raffle baskets and won a beautiful Wolf blankie donated by Viv Arend (who I wish I’d gotten a picture with!)

When I left the conference, I not only left energized to get back to my writing, I left with scads of information that will only help me further my career and several new friends. The hardest part of the conference was leaving. I teared up when I hugged Alexis and Bonnie. It was tough to say goodbye. But then I realized, with the many ways I am connected to not only them, but all of the people I met, I wasn’t really saying goodbye to anyone. Just saying “later”.

I’ll be going again and I have a feeling people will react as if it’s only been a few days rather than a year’s time.

Thank you, GSRWA and everyone for making this first timer’s a great first time.

for a public service announcement.

If you’ve dealt with or will eventually be dealing with a teenage daughter, read this blog post by Lynn Viehl. It’s brilliant! And spot on.

In Character

Why do those of you who have cats that you allow to roam free do that? Why don’t you care enough about their health, if nothing else, to keep them indoors, away from the Feline Leukemia and other assorted diseases they pick up let alone possible rabies from fights with rabid wild animals, being flattened by cars and any number of other things that can happen to them?

I’m not talking about barn cats. I understand why they roam. They have a specific job to do and that’s another story.

I’m talking about beloved pets who share your home, furniture, bed…

We have several feral cats in our neighborhood thanks to some irresponsible cat owners who thought letting them have a more natural life was the thing to do. However, when those cats spawned little cats, the owners claimed their responsibility ended with their own. I can only surmise the little cats were semi-tended by a parent until they were old enough and then disappeared into the nature preserve that borders my backyard, making the feral cats almost impossible to catch.

For the past two weeks, our Cardinals, who are very shy birds, made and tended their nest in my climbing rose bush that runs right next to my deck. I think they’ve come to accept that we are around from time to time and we try not to disturb them any more than necessary. Two days ago, one of their two eggs finally hatched. Immediately, one of the feral cats was there, determined to climb through my thorny rose bush to get to that baby. We tried our best. Even let the dobermans out (we have two) who managed to scare the cat away, but as soon as the dogs came in, the cat came back.

Yesterday morning, we heard the ruckus. The Cardinals screeching, the cat hissing, but we weren’t fast enough. By the time we got out there, the nest was on the ground, the baby was nowhere to be seen and neither was the other egg. All day yesterday, I listened to those birds chirp in the trees near where the nest had been. Their usually cheery song was gone, replaced by a single note.

I was devastated.

Yes, I realize there are things in nature that will happen. But around here, even the raccoons have never bothered that nest or those birds. They’re not stupid enough to brave the thorns.

So now, I will go to the humane society once again, rent another live animal trap which I’ve done several years in a row, and hope I can catch the cats. I doubt it. But I’ll try again.

I have a cat. She lives in my house. The only time she ever goes outside is to the vet, or on that rare occasion when she scoots out the door. But she only gets a couple feet before she tips over and lays there like a lump until I pick her up and carry her back in the house.

Please don’t let your cats run wild. And if you can’t understand why that is so wrong, then at least spay or neuter them! You’re not doing anyone any favors otherwise, especially the babies that will be left on their own.

My Cardinals are standing on the deck this morning, staring in the direction of the rosebush and giving that one lone chirp every once in awhile. If you ever thought birds and other animals don’t feel, you’re wrong!

Tomorrow, I will get back to the Wedding Dresses and things.

Thanks for your patience.

I’m fascinated with Greek and consequently, Roman mythology and have come across some very weird and interesting tales while researching both subjects. One of the more interesting to me is why June has always been the most favorable month for weddings.

In ancient times, The Roman Goddess Juno, or her Greek equivalent, Hera, were both known as the Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth. It was thought she would bring luck and prosperity to any who wed during ‘her’ month. She was also a pretty prolific birth mother so women who wanted a big family tended to choose June as an added bit of luck toward that end.

As the centuries moved forward, man’s thinking did too (though that’s always debatable) and women found that marriage in June tended to insure their babies would be born the following spring, giving them time to recover before the fall harvest when her help would be needed in the fields.

Some suggestions also point to the 1400’s and 1500’s when, it is thought, people took their “annual” bath in May, thus insuring the general population would still be smelling relatively sweet in June and thereby being more appealing to the opposite sex. I don’t know about that, but it’s a definite plus when your significant other smells nice!

Because I write mostly Regency England, and have come across some wonderful and also bizarre wedding facts and myths, I thought I’d take this month and explore a bit more the traditions and customs involved. So, more tomorrow and over the next few weeks. Dress, custom, even jewelry (I found some great pieces I’ll post pics of). Maybe we’ll all learn something new this month!

We had a full moon on the 27th of this month. Perhaps that is not very significant to you, but to anyone who has ever worked in a hospital setting in any type of patient care, they will tell you that regardless of all the “scientific data” out there (and really, who are the scientists that come up with that data) hospitals see an upswing in ER visits, babies born, psychiatric admissions and more.

I worked in a hospital for several years. Often times, my patients who were sweet little compliant things any other time turned into agitated, angry people during full moons. Once the phase had passed, so did their agitation.

I’ve never gotten agitated or upset during full moons. I sometimes do silly or insane things during them, but hey, we all go a little crazy sometimes (can you name the movie?) so for this month’s full moon, I decided to try another template for my site. I wanted something that reflected a bit of the dark side of my stories, and yet, wasn’t so oppressive that you couldn’t see the text. (Shiloh Walker gave me that bit of advice: no white printing on a black background. It hurts the eyes if stared at too long and she’s right)

I tweaked it for a couple days and I think it’s looking pretty good. No wolves on it yet, but I’ll get there. In the meantime, I’ll just keep plugging away. But I think it’s shaping up nicely so maybe I can stick with this one for awhile.

What about you? How often do you change the look of your site/blog? Is it something you put a lot of thought into? Or did you just pick one and stay with it? Do you want it to reflect you? Your stories? Talk to me

I have been remiss with my website for quite awhile now for reasons I’ll go into at another time. But thanks to Kassa from 3AM, Kris from Kris ‘n’ Good Books and KB from Babbling About Books, and More, they’ve gotten me reinvolved with my site. And they did it by getting a group of 30 bloggers together (which is a feat in itself!) and each agreed to write a fan letter to their favorite author. The link to KB’s site will give you the schedule.

I had to think long and hard about who I wanted to write to, since I’ve always been a voracious reader and over the years, have developed a love of several writers that have made an impact on my life. But, since I write romance, I decided to focus on that genre. Then I had to decide who in that group of exceptional authors, I’d want to write to.

Since I’ve read countless books and have a couple of bookcases of novels I could never part with, (not counting the many bookcases filled with books I really can part with) I looked there to see who stood out and after careful consideration decided there was no way I could center on one author. So instead, I am writing a thank you to the three romance authors who have shaped my definition of the perfect romance novel.

First, to Victoria Holt, who this reader found in 1966 with the release of her novel, Menfreya in the Morning. I don’t remember how I came across the book. I imagine the cover caught my attention. They often were very gothic and/or dark and for someone enamored of Poe and his oh-so-scary stories, I convinced my mother I had to have it. I’m so glad I did. I read it on a Saturday morning and my view of the gothic romance novel was shaped forever. I read every Victoria Holt novel I could get my hands on from then on and still have most of them, though many are falling to pieces from age and reading wear now and some, due to extenuating circumstances, were collected or read when I was older. But for an only child whose constant companion was a good book, these novels became my closest for many, many years. So thank you, Miss Holt. Though you are gone now, you will forever live in my heart and will be the standard I measure the gothic tale by.

Second, and I must make a terrible admission here…I became very jaded at some point in my life and finally set aside the romance novels I loved so well, moving on to crime and mystery, some series, some stand alones, most with little to no romance at all. I don’t know why now. I do know that many were very good, though most made little if any lasting impression on me. Then one day at our local indie bookstore, I caught the cover of a novel that intrigued me. It was in the romance section, one I didn’t often visit anymore and though I was used to seeing brawny heroes and seductive heroines on the covers, this one had a pair of shoes on it! Shoes and flowers and a pocket watch. I couldn’t see the connection to the title, so I read the back blurb and decided it was worth a try. The book? The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie. From the moment I started it, I couldn’t put it down. It sucked me in, made me laugh, made me cry and even made me look back at some of the less than stellar points in my life, times when it was hard being me. But most importantly, it made me remember just exactly what I loved about the whole romance genre in the first place.

As soon as I finished it, I started it again. Then I bought the successive ones in the series, Perfect Waltz, Perfect Stranger and Perfect Kiss. Then I bought her back list and devoured those. And still re-read them all. Anne has a way of bringing the everyday to life in her characters and I find a little bit of myself in almost every one. She also manages to suck me into a time and place that makes me want to live there. And she brought back my love of Romance and my need to read it.

So, thank you, Anne, for reminding me what a lovely world I was missing and for bringing me back to the thing I love most.

And the third part of my letter goes to an author who showed me that I could still enjoy my Poe and my supernatural thrillers and yet, get the HEA I so desperately craved. And that is Karen Marie Moning. A friend sent me Kiss of the Highlander to try. I’d just never read a romance novel actually classified as Paranormal. I’m glad I did. I read it and read it again and again, then bought the entire Highlander series and have not only worn out a couple sets, I have bought sets for many of my friends. Not only did I get the hot hero (and he was a Highlander to boot!), and my HEA in every story, I got heroines I could relate to. Hers aren’t lithesome perfect creatures. They remind me in many ways of Ms. Holt’s. Imperfect, average, but with a strength of will that carries the day. Her heroes aren’t only human, they’re beyond human. They’re druids and fae and unique, men I really would want to know if even just for the conversation. She taught me things about my ancestry I’d long forgotten. Legends and tales I’d listened to as a ‘wee bairn’ on my grandmother’s knee. And in some ways, she made me feel through those tales and legends and stories within her novels as if I’d come home.

Ms. Moning also gave me a curiosity to read other paranormal romance and when the ‘magical’ characters long rattling around in my brain demanded, she gave me the confidence to know that paranormal was something people wanted to read and even if they never read mine, I could still write what those characters were saying to me and be guilt free.

Thank you, Ms. Moning, for opening up a fascinating genre I can’t seem to get away from now.

So, those are the three authors who have made the biggest impression on me. I could name you countless others I’ve enjoyed as much, but these three are the ones who led me to all the rest.

If you have the chance, go back and read through the many lovely letters posted so far. You can find them on Katie’s site above. And tomorrow, on to Lily at I Love Books.

Thanks, Kassa, Kris and Katie. )